Matthew DelSesto – författare

How can social theory help us all design solutions to address the social, political and ecological challenges that confront us, and build more sustainable communities? Design professions have typically been associated with intervention and action, while social science has long been associated with thought and reflection. Design and social thought are too frequently considered distinct in terms of how theories can be applied in practice. Design and the Social Imagination brings together the creative, action-oriented sensibility of design with the reflective, analytical capacities of the social sciences to offer models, ideas and strategies for shaping the future of the world we live in.In a world of global economic inequality, racism, and environmental degradation, designing with an understanding of our social reality is increasingly crucial to our survival. Matthew DelSesto explores current practices and discourses in areas of urban design, design for social innovation, environmental design, co-design, service design, and more, illustrating how thoughtful design can contribute in a more productive way. Drawing on a range of theory and practice from radical social thinkers C. Wright Mills, Patrick Geddes, Jane Addams and W. E. B. Du Bois, his book shows us how design and the social sciences can interact in order to intervene in the crises we face today.

How can social theory help us all design solutions to address the social, political and ecological challenges that confront us, and build more sustainable communities? Design professions have typically been associated with intervention and action, while social science has long been associated with thought and reflection. Design and social thought are too frequently considered distinct in terms of how theories can be applied in practice. Design and the Social Imagination brings together the creative, action-oriented sensibility of design with the reflective, analytical capacities of the social sciences to offer models, ideas and strategies for shaping the future of the world we live in.In a world of global economic inequality, racism, and environmental degradation, designing with an understanding of our social reality is increasingly crucial to our survival. Matthew DelSesto explores current practices and discourses in areas of urban design, design for social innovation, environmental design, co-design, service design, and more, illustrating how thoughtful design can contribute in a more productive way. Drawing on a range of theory and practice from radical social thinkers C. Wright Mills, Patrick Geddes, Jane Addams and W. E. B. Du Bois, his book shows us how design and the social sciences can interact in order to intervene in the crises we face today.

How can social theory help us all design solutions to address the social, political and ecological challenges that confront us, and build more sustainable communities? Design professions have typically been associated with intervention and action, while social science has long been associated with thought and reflection. Design and social thought are too frequently considered distinct in terms of how theories can be applied in practice. Design and the Social Imagination brings together the creative, action-oriented sensibility of design with the reflective, analytical capacities of the social sciences to offer models, ideas and strategies for shaping the future of the world we live in.In a world of global economic inequality, racism, and environmental degradation, designing with an understanding of our social reality is increasingly crucial to our survival. Matthew DelSesto explores current practices and discourses in areas of urban design, design for social innovation, environmental design, co-design, service design, and more, illustrating how thoughtful design can contribute in a more productive way. Drawing on a range of theory and practice from radical social thinkers C. Wright Mills, Patrick Geddes, Jane Addams and W. E. B. Du Bois, his book shows us how design and the social sciences can interact in order to intervene in the crises we face today.

How can social theory help us all design solutions to address the social, political and ecological challenges that confront us, and build more sustainable communities? Design professions have typically been associated with intervention and action, while social science has long been associated with thought and reflection. Design and social thought are too frequently considered distinct in terms of how theories can be applied in practice. Design and the Social Imagination brings together the creative, action-oriented sensibility of design with the reflective, analytical capacities of the social sciences to offer models, ideas and strategies for shaping the future of the world we live in.In a world of global economic inequality, racism, and environmental degradation, designing with an understanding of our social reality is increasingly crucial to our survival. Matthew DelSesto explores current practices and discourses in areas of urban design, design for social innovation, environmental design, co-design, service design, and more, illustrating how thoughtful design can contribute in a more productive way. Drawing on a range of theory and practice from radical social thinkers C. Wright Mills, Patrick Geddes, Jane Addams and W. E. B. Du Bois, his book shows us how design and the social sciences can interact in order to intervene in the crises we face today.

Bringing together global and transdisciplinary perspectives, this volume moves beyond conventional approaches to designing and speculates what might come after design in the modern paradigm.Arguing for the generative role of designing as a form of thought and action, renowned scholars examine a range of futures and contexts, emerging terminology for design activism outside the Western tradition, and theoretical and philosophical critiques of contemporary design discourse. On one hand, contributors recognize the limitations and harm inherent to design professions, such as the role of design in maintaining an exclusive luxury economy that is damaging socially and ecologically. At the same time, they highlight the ways in which a more expansive concept of designing can be a vehicle and catalyst to unleash creative possibilities.Chapters explore a wide variety of case studies including the transformative practices of Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi, a planetary practice of design driven by sustainability, a catastrophic car carrier fire and the need for designers to reclaim their agency, and new practices of solidarity and creative resistance in the context of French Caribbean horticulture. Building on Staszowski and Tassinari’s (Designing) Beyond the Modern (Bloomsbury, 2026) and anchored in the philosophy of Ingold, Rancière, and Latour, among other important thinkers, the contributors embrace speculative practice, our planetary existence, indigenous cultures, ‘sensible’ knowledge, and a circular understanding of production, consumption, and waste.A timely and necessary exploration into the potential of design to dismantle its inherent modernist structures to one of pluriversaility, After Design advocates for a practice that is inclusive, environmentally conscious, and culturally sensitive.

Bringing together global and transdisciplinary perspectives, this volume moves beyond conventional approaches to designing and speculates what might come after design in the modern paradigm.Arguing for the generative role of designing as a form of thought and action, renowned scholars examine a range of futures and contexts, emerging terminology for design activism outside the Western tradition, and theoretical and philosophical critiques of contemporary design discourse. On one hand, contributors recognize the limitations and harm inherent to design professions, such as the role of design in maintaining an exclusive luxury economy that is damaging socially and ecologically. At the same time, they highlight the ways in which a more expansive concept of designing can be a vehicle and catalyst to unleash creative possibilities.Chapters explore a wide variety of case studies including the transformative practices of Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi, a planetary practice of design driven by sustainability, a catastrophic car carrier fire and the need for designers to reclaim their agency, and new practices of solidarity and creative resistance in the context of French Caribbean horticulture. Building on Staszowski and Tassinari’s (Designing) Beyond the Modern (Bloomsbury, 2026) and anchored in the philosophy of Ingold, Rancière, and Latour, among other important thinkers, the contributors embrace speculative practice, our planetary existence, indigenous cultures, ‘sensible’ knowledge, and a circular understanding of production, consumption, and waste.A timely and necessary exploration into the potential of design to dismantle its inherent modernist structures to one of pluriversaility, After Design advocates for a practice that is inclusive, environmentally conscious, and culturally sensitive.